Golf at 4:30
by tryanforever91
Summary: After he invites Troy to play a game of golf, Ryan is suddenly afraid of embarrassing himself in front of someone he really likes. And being really bad at golf doesn't help at all... or does it? TRYAN. Related to 'Sing With Me'


**Author's Note: **Hey there!

So, here's the deal with this story. I took chapter three of my now deleted first fic, _Sing With Me_, and expanded it into a oneshot. I've changed a lot of minor details, as well as reworked large chunks of the plot, so I hope my old readers can find something new to read, in addition to those who never read _Sing With Me_.

This probably isn't up to par with some of my latest works, but I needed something I could just write, and maybef get the juices in my head flowing a bit. As of right now, I've made no progress on _A Story From East High, Broken, _or my novel for National Novel Writing Month (it's stuck at 1,000 words when I should be at 15,000+), so this is just a way for me to try and get back into my groove. I still hope you enjoy reading this, because I put in a lot of effort into this (as I do for all my stories).

**Warning:** This story contains slash (male/male relationships). Haters, you know the drill.

**Disclaimer:** This story is based on the movies _High School Musical, _and _High School Musical 2_, both written by Peter Baroscchini

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**Golf at 4:30  
**Written by tryanforever91

4:27PM. A surge of butterflies filled Ryan's gut as he checked his watch again. Oh _how_ did he convince himself to do this?

Under the radiant sun, which basked Lava Springs Country Club in a simmering heat, Ryan Evans stood alone on the first tee, waiting anxiously for the arrival of his soon-to-be golf partner. He fidgeted with his clubs and his bounced on his feet, beside himself in anxiety. Why oh why did he do this?

At the time, it seemed like such a good idea. It was earlier that day, around lunchtime, when Troy caught Ryan by the pool on his break. They talked about this and that; small, inconsequential things really. Ryan was just glad for the chance to talk to Troy, as he had been harbouring quite a crush on the Wildcat superstar for a long time now. Troy was about to leave when Ryan said it – when he asked if Troy would join him for a game of golf after work. He just wanted to spend more time with Troy. He said yes, and Ryan had been floating on a cloud all day after that.

However, Ryan had come down off his cloud now, and was really starting to doubt his own judgment. There were probably a million things that could go wrong. What if Troy didn't like golf? What if Ryan did really badly? What if things got really awkward between them? And this was all assuming that Troy was actually going to show, which Ryan could not help but worry about too. What if he didn't? What if he _did_?

4:29PM. Ryan whimpered. It was almost time. Any minute now, Troy was going to come out of the main building, walk down that path, and meet Ryan at the first tee to play a game of golf. Any _second_ now...

4:30PM came and went, and Troy was still nowhere to be seen. Ryan was really worried now. Was Troy going not coming? Was he actually going to blow Ryan off? Controlled by nervous habit, Ryan checked his watch again...

...and when he looked up, there was Troy!

_Oh god! Here he comes!_

The tall, tanned brunet boy came strolling down the path to the golf course. The brilliant New Mexico sun glinted off his dark shades, and he looked very relaxed in a white Hollister shirt and a pair of khaki cargo shorts. In a word, Troy was stunning.

Ryan, on the other hand, was a bit of a mess. He hastily tried to wipe the sweat off his brow with his forearm. He only got sweatier. His hat was askew, and his shirt was wrinkled. Ryan hopped around a little, trying to smooth himself and make at least a decent impression.

Completely focussed on straightening himself, Ryan was not aware that Troy had already made it to the tee and was but a few feet away.

"Hey, Ryan!"

The blond nearly jumped out of his skin. He stopped fussing over himself and looked up at Troy, whose quizzical but smiling expression was half hidden under his sunglasses. "Oh! H-hey, Troy!" Ryan stammered. "I got your clubs!" He quickly stepped over to the golf cart he had rented, patting Troy's red golf bag, which was sitting in the back.

"So I see," Troy said, still smiling. He walked over to where Ryan was standing and hoisted his bag out of the cart. "Thanks man." He took a hand and clapped it onto Ryan's shoulder. Ryan tried not to quiver at Troy's touch and returned the friendly smile.

"No problem."

Troy turned away from Ryan to look out over the course. "So what do you think?" he asked, taking his sunglasses off. "Should we do the front nine or the whole thing?"

Ryan shrugged and shook his head. "Hey, you're the expert on golf here." Troy laughed at this.

"Expert, huh? I dunno about that." Troy squinted as he looked over the course again, then he checked on the time. "How about just to the ninth hole. I can't be out too late, and I'm bushed from work."

"Is all that food too heavy to carry around?" Ryan teased, starting to relax a bit.

Troy gave Ryan a sidelong glance as he reached into his bag for a tee. "You have no idea. Some of these members have a real big appetite."

Ryan laughed. _Okay_, he thought. _So far so good. I haven't made a complete fool of myself yet._ Of course, they hadn't started playing yet. Ryan let Troy have the first shot in an effort to postpone the embarrassment of having Troy watch his horrible swing.

With a ball and tee in one hand, and his driver in the other, Troy picked his spot on the teeing ground. He bent low to the smooth grass to push in his tee, and as he did, Ryan could not help but notice how prominent certain body parts were in such a position. Ignoring a slight flicker of guilt, Ryan nonchalantly peered down at Troy as he fumbled with his tee.

Abruptly, Troy stood up, and for a frightening split-second, Ryan thought Troy had caught him in the act. But Troy regarded Ryan only with a quick grin before lining up his shot. With a firm grip on his club, Troy swung back (another appealing position in Ryan's opinion) and whacked his ball clear into the sky, on a straight path down the first fairway. Leaning on his driver, Troy let out a content sigh, a look of proud determination on his face. Ryan applauded.

"Great shot, Troy!" Ryan lauded. As excited as he was for Troy, however, dread started to fill his shoes like a weight as he slowly stepped up to his tee. He chanced a nervous look at Troy before he set his ball on the little wooden peg. Straightening himself, Ryan took hold of his driver and said a silent prayer.

_Please don't send my ball careening into the rough._

With nothing but hope, Ryan took a blind swing at his ball, shooting it at an odd angle down the fairway. While Troy's ball lay more or less in the centre of the course, quite a ways from the tee, Ryan's was at about half that distance, a foot or two past the border between the smooth fairway and the rough. It was quite a dreadful shot...

So Ryan was surprised when Troy let out a small whoop and clapped his hands.

"Killer shot!" he said. Ryan stared at Troy. Was he insane?

"Um, it's in the rough... and it didn't go very far," Ryan pointed out pathetically. Troy waved a hand.

"Hey, it's cool. We're just warming up." He clambered into the golf cart and started it up. "Hop in! Let's go save your stray golf ball!"

Feeling a little better about his horrible start, Ryan slipped into the passenger side of the cart. In an instant, they were roaring down the green as far as the tiny cart would take them. Troy was obviously having fun being at the wheel.

"You drive around here often?" Ryan joked.

"Not often enough," Troy replied, flooring the accelerator. They came to a screeching halt near where Ryan's ball landed. Hopping out of the cart, Ryan went hunting for his golf ball, Troy following.

Trot spotted the ball first, in an unfortunate spot between two tree roots. Ryan sighed.

"Told you it was a bad shot," he groaned, looking down mournfully at his golf ball. Troy let out a small chuckle and stood beside Ryan.

"You'll need your pitching wedge."

"My what?"

Troy laughed again and reached into Ryan's golf bag. "This."

Ryan looked at what appeared to be just another iron, except where a number usually was there was instead the letter W. Taking the club from Troy with great uncertainty, Ryan stepped closer to his ball and tried to figure out just what he was supposed to do.

He stood over his ball for a while, a lot longer that it would normally take someone to line up a shot. Puzzling over his predicament, Ryan was prepared to just wing it again.

"Need some help?"

Ryan jumped when he heard Troy's voice, practically over his shoulder. _Oh no, what is he doing? Oh, this is bad, this is very very bad!_ Ryan's skin prickled as Troy's hands grazed over Ryan's and came to rest on top of them. Ryan was now encased by Troy's strong arms and warm body, his back resting against Troy's chest. Ryan had to remind himself to breathe.

"You kinda want to make a chopping motion with the wedge," Troy said, in a low murmur. His cheek was just touching Ryan's ear, and the sensation of Troy's breath and the sound of his voice were numbing. "You're trying to pop the ball out of there."

"O-okay," Ryan nearly whispered. As he was guided slowly through a practice swing, Ryan could not focus on anything other than the fact that Troy, the boy he had fallen for since the winter musical, was now holding him very close. Golf was the furthest thing from Ryan's mind. The world around him suddenly felt surreal, and for a brief moment in time, Ryan was on the verge of passing out.

Troy must have felt Ryan's body sway, because he held him tighter in alarm. "Whoa, dude. Are you okay?"

The voice was loud and worried, and it brought Ryan back down to Earth. "Ah! Oh, yeah, I'm fine," he said, blinking rapidly. "I guess it's just... the sun." Ryan's insides wrenched. This would definitely qualify as an awkward situation.

"Should we head back then?" Troy asked.

"No!" Ryan gasped. "I mean... it's really nice out, and no one else is out here. We should take advantage of that."

Troy sounded unsure. "Well, all right then. That's your call. Shall we make this shot?"

Ryan nodded. "Yeah, let's do it." He let Troy do all the work, lest Ryan send his ball to some other random spot. They finally succeeded in hitting Ryan's ball back onto the fairway. Troy let go of Ryan, and a wave of relief washed over the blond. However, in its wake, a lingering feeling of longing seeped through Ryan.

There wasn't much time to think things over, as the two were back in the golf cart and driving over to where Troy's ball was. He made short business of sending his ball onto the green, which would almost guarantee that he'd make par. Ryan was hoping for a double bogey_ at least._ His ball was nearby, and he took out a random club to whack it with. To his (and probably Troy's) great surprise, the ball sailed away in a straight line and landed neatly on the green beside Troy's.

"Now _there's_ a good shot!" Troy exclaimed. Ryan tried not to get too proud, but he at least admitted to himself that it was a pretty good shot. "To the green?"

Ryan sat himself in the golf cart again. "To the green."

The hole was actually a great distance away, and Ryan was still figuring out how his ball made it that far as they sped away.

Troy was still having fun racing down the fairway, and he wasn't following any logical route. Laughing as he drove, he steered the cart around bunkers and under trees. Even Ryan was starting to laugh a bit. It was a bit of a rush careening around the golf course dodging random obstacles.

"Troy," Ryan said, laughing hard now, "you're gonna run us into something!"

"Hey, great idea!" Troy replied, cackling hysterically. The two shared a fleeting glance, smiling at each other as they tore around the grass.

No longer aware what was ahead of the cart, neither boy realize that they were headed straight for a giant tree. Scarce feet away from the oncoming obstruction, Ryan let out a loud yelp, and Troy finally saw the tree. At the very last second, Troy steered hard to the left, and the little cart veered away at the last second. Unable to make the extremely sharp turn, it toppled over, and there were loud clatters and clunks as clubs and golf balls flew away. Troy was thrown out of the vehicle and went rolling a few feet away. Ryan tumbled after him.

When he came to a stop, Ryan groaned in pain. That wasn't something he wanted to try again. He started when he felt – not heard – _felt_ Troy laughing beside him. The blond was suddenly aware that Troy was spread-eagled on the ground, and that he had somehow rolled onto one of Troy's arms, so that the two were lying together on the smooth, soft grass.

"What a _blast_!" Troy breathed. Ryan only groaned weakly in response. "You okay?"

Ryan tried not to sound too bitter. "I ache all over."

Troy stopped laughing. "Aw hey, I'm sorry about that."

Ryan froze up when he felt the arm that was under his back move. The next moment, it was around Ryan, Troy's hand resting on his chest. It patted Ryan a few times. "I'm sorry."

_Ohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygod..._ Was this actually happening? Was this _actually_ happening?! Ryan was absolutely petrified. "It's... okay..." he squeaked.

"Okay," Troy sighed. Ryan heard him let out a long yawn. His hand was not moving.

Ever so slightly, Ryan moved his head so he could see Troy's. His eyes were closed.

"Troy?" Ryan whispered.

"I'm really tired," Troy said placidly. "Maybe we should just stay here for a while."

Ryan decided right then and there that either the crashed knocked him out and he was dreaming, or Troy was not fully aware of himself because he may have hurt himself. Clearly it had to be one of those, for it was completely ridiculous that Troy be doing this of his accord. There was just no way that Troy would want to because he was obviously straight. _Obviously_...

-o-o-o-

5:12PM.

"Ryan? Ryan! Are you awake?" Troy prodded Ryan with a finger. He snorted loudly.

"I want it all," Ryan mumbled, shifting slightly. He lay still a moment later, still fast asleep.

Looking around, Troy could not see anyone else on the golf course or anywhere else. They were alone. He lied down again, his arm still trapped under Ryan's body. He placed his hand on Ryan's chest, where it was before, feeling the steady beating of Ryan's heart. His other arm curled over Ryan's body, bringing him closer so that he was nestled right next to Troy. Even when he was sleeping, it was just so wonderful to hold him. Before he got too comfortable, Troy lifted his head and placed a tender soft kiss on Ryan's head.

"Maybe one day I won't have to use golf as an excuse to be with you. Maybe one day, I'll have the guts to say this while you're awake."

Troy rested his head next to Ryan's, his lips brushing against Ryan's ear.

"I love you, Ryan."

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Okay, sorry if that ending sucked...

Now, I have an exciting bit of news for you all. Since _Sing With Me_ was my first ever HSM fanfic, and holds such a special place in my heart, I am editing, re-writing, and re-posting it! This oneshot kinda serves as a sneak preview of what the new story will be like.

This wont be the final version of the new chapter three, as some plot details were changed just so it would make sense as a oneshot. But when I rewrite Sing With Me, I'll be using this oneshot as a basis for the new stuff. The ending bit, with Troy, won't actually happen in the story; it's almost like an alternate ending.

Of course, I won't officially start work on this until Dec. 2, when NaNoWriMo finally ends. When that time comes, either I'll finish _A Story From East High_ first and then start _Sing With Me, _or I'll work on them both simultaneously. I'll let you guys decide what I should do.

AAAnyways, I hope you all enjoyed that story. I don't have much else to say, so I'll leave it at that.

Dont forget to REVIEW!!

Until next time,

-tryanforever91

**UPDATE:** Initial planning has officially begun for _Sing With Me (Rewrite)_, and I am looking for YOUR ideas! That's right. I'm looking for anything, new plot ideas, character stuff, parts of the original story that you want expanded/shortened, even a new title! I want any suggestions you might have for this new story to make it even better than the original! Just send them to me via PM.


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